Elemental Flux
by Blu Taiger
Summary: Calvin, Hobbes and Susie wake up to find themselves in a strange world. A world populated by bizarre creatures and people with strange powers. They'll have to master the elements if they're going to survive this world and find a way home.
1. Strangers in a Strange Land

So then, as promised, here is the winner by popular vote as to what story I should write next.

But I gotta level with ya, I am a bit... doubtful about this one. See, after thinking about the plot as I originally had it, I realized that there were some pretty hefty plot holes in it. This caused me to put it through a mental rewrite as it were, and... well, let's just say I'm not sure how well it'll work out. But, we shall see.

**Disclaimer:** Yeah, yeah, don't own _Calvin and Hobbes_ or _Avatar, the last Airbender_.

* * *

Sunlight simmered on Calvin's eyelids, attempting – and succeeding – to rouse the boy from his quiet sleep. Calvin blinked his eyes, glaring ruefully at the offensive ball of light in the sky. Warily, he stretched and yawned, slowly coming to full alertness.

_Must've dosed off._ Calvin thought to himself, numbly. As his senses were returning, Calvin glanced around himself, taking in his surroundings. He sat in a large, open field. Grass swayed gently in the breeze and birds could be heard singing in the distance. He glanced upward and gazed into the pastel pink canopy of the cherry tree he leaned against. The sight struck something in him. _Wait a minute, weren't we just under a_ maple _tree? _

He senses had fully returned and were on full alert. He jumped to his feet and took a more acute survey of his surroundings. The trees that populated the landscape all looked quite foreign and alien – not the deciduous plants he was used to. And then there was the fact that there didn't seem to be any buildings around. He had just been walking down the street... hadn't he?... Yes, he had! And there had been houses on either side of him. Then a split second later he was standing in an empty field with plants that didn't look native; they looked, if he had to assign a region to them,... oriental.

Calvin grew more and more perplexed by the second. He scratched his head as he pondered this strange circumstance, running his fingers through his unruly blond hair.

He slowly walked around the tree, trying to piece together what had happened, when something at the base of the tree caught his eye – or rather, some_one_. A girl with short brown hair was curled up against the trunk of the tree, sound asleep. Her chest rose and fell in time with her soft breathing and a small smile spread over her face, as if she were enjoying a pleasant dream.

Calvin knew this girl – she was his classmate and neighbor. The sight of her brought some ease to his mind. If he _had_ to go through this unfamiliar place, at least he wouldn't have to do it alone. (Even if his only company _was_ Susie Derkins.)

"Hey Susie! Wake up!" he called to her. She made no response.

"C'mon Susie, up an' at 'em!" he tried again, gently nudging her shoulder. She sighed and rolled over onto her side.

Calvin was starting to get annoyed now. This time, he shook her shoulder vigorously. "On your feet, Derkins! That's enough beauty sleep for now!" Despite all that, the girl still remained inert as ever.

Deciding to give it one last go, Calvin leaned close to her ear. "_WAKE UP!_" he shouted. That did the trick.

Susie shot upright with a startled yelp; and like a reflex, her fist made contact with Calvin's nose. "... _Calvin?_" she said when her panic wore off. An irate grumble was the boy's only response. Susie looked in befuddlement at the stooped over boy, clutching his nose "_... What are doing in my room?_" she asked. But as she got a clear look at her surroundings, her outrage turned to confusion. "This... _isn't_ my room."

"_Ya don't say!_" Calvin snarled in reply, still holding his nose.

"_Calvin,_" Susie said as she rose to her feet. "... where _are_ we?"

"Well, that's the million dollar question, isn't it?" Calvin curtly answered. When he was satisfied that his nose wasn't any worse for wear, he turned to face Susie. "C'mon. Let's see if we can figure out what this place is."

Susie started to follow, but something caught her attention. At first, she wasn't sure it was what she thought it was, but soon it came into full view and there could be no doubt. "_Calvin, look out! There's a tiger!_"

"_A tiger? Where?_" Calvin exclaimed, looking around in panic.

"_It's right there – coming up behind you!_"

He looked around. "Oh, hi Hobbes. _Now where's this tiger you're so worried about?_"

Susie was confounded. She looked at Calvin in utter bewilderment. "But,... it was – that _is_... _How are you so calm with a tiger standing right next to you?_"

Calvin looked at the tiger, who looked back at him. They then both turned back to Susie. "It's only Hobbes." Calvin said. "I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of it – you've seen him before."

Susie gave the boy a blank stare. "... I've seen a stuffed animal, Calvin! Hobbes isn't _real_! He's a _toy_! He's made of cloth and, and _stuffing!_ This is a real, living, breathing _tiger_ – with claws... and _teeth!_"

Both boy and tiger could only stare at her incredulously. "Boy, this ordeal must've really done a number on you." Calvin stated. "Look, he's till the same Hobbes he ever was. Tell 'er, Hobbes."

The tiger nodded; but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was a low, moaning sound. Calvin was confused by this – but Hobbes, even more so. He tried again, but rather than speech, there came a rumbling growl. Hobbes hastily placed his paw over his mouth, looking around abashedly. Once more, he put his paw to his chest, inhaling deeply. Once more, a deep throated growl sounded. Hobbes clamped his jaws shut, cutting off the feral noise. His expression was one of astonishment and worry.

Calvin scratched his head, also wearing a concerned expression. "_That's_ odd." he said. "Hobbes, try standing."

Susie turned a confused look his way. Wasn't the tiger _already_ standing? But as she watched, the tiger – Hobbes – tried to raise his front legs off of the floor. They stayed in the air for a split second before falling back to the ground. He pushed himself off the ground again and again; but each time his front paws wound up back on the ground. With a frustrated groan, Hobbes couched down like someone doing a push-up; and using the added momentum, he sprung his arms into the air and at last he stood on his back legs alone! A look of pride and triumph graced his face – and quickly vanished as he fell flat on his back.

Calvin sighed, shaking his head slowly. "Well, come on." he said. "Better get going."

Hobbes looked at him, making an irritated sound.

"Yes, I know this must be frustrating for you." Calvin replied to the tiger. "But we _do_ have more pressing issues at the moment. Like, where the heck we are and how're we getting home." So he started walking.

Hobbes made a frustrated noise, but pulled himself to his feet and followed after him.

Susie, not wanting to be left behind, quickly trotted after the two of them – though keeping a wary eye on the tiger.

* * *

The unusual trio kept on like this for some time. Though the scenery changed, the landscape remained the same – unfamiliar trees sprouted all around, while there was not so much as a single building, let alone a path, in sight.

After a good half hour or so of endless walking, the three of them came upon a sight that lifted their spirits, somewhat. "Look, some kind of road, or something!" Susie called, pointing.

"Saints be praised." Calvin mumbled.

"So... At lest we know there are people around." Susie said in a relieved voice.

"Or were." Calvin replied. "No telling if whoever made this road is still around."

"Right. But at least if we follow the road, it's likely to bring us somewhere."

"True. But for now, I think we could all use a rest." Calvin seated himself under the shade of a nearby tree. His companions, feeling no need to argue, followed suit.

"So,..." Susie mused. "This whole experience is pretty weird."

"You got that right." Calvin replied.

"I... don't suppose you've figured out where we are?"

"And how could I have figured that out, huh? There aren't exactly any signposts around."

"_There's no need to get snippy._" Susie hissed. "Besides, you're always claiming you're a genius – you could've examined the plants we've seen and extrapolated our location that way!"

"By looking at trees? I'm not a... what's it called, a _bootanist_."

"... You mean a _bot_anist?"

"Maybe I meant '_boot_anist'!"

"So you've suddenly turned Canadian, then?"

Calvin grumbled; the smug grin Hobbes shot him didn't help matters. "Whatever! Maybe if we retrace our steps, we can figure it out!"

"Sounds good." Susie agreed.

"Alright. So,... Hobbes and I were under the big maple tree, looking at bugs."

"Why were you looking at bugs?" Susie asked, a queasy look on her face.

"'Cause they were there!"

"Ugh, You and your hobbies."

"Anyway. Then you showed up,"

"Sounds about right."

"You came over and asked what we were doing,"

"I remember that."

"And then we woke up under a cherry tree."

Susie looked at him blankly. "Is that all you've got?"

"... That's... pretty much it."

"... I think we might be missing a few steps."

After a few more minutes, they were well rested and ready to go.

Calvin stared down the road in either direction. "Now then, I suppose the question is which direction do we head in." he stated.

"I think we should go this way." Susie said, pointing down the path.

"I say we go that way." Calvin responded, pointing the opposite direction.

Susie glared at him, irritably. "Did you say that _just_ to contradict me?"

"'Course not!" he replied with a smarmy smirk. "This way is clearly the better choice – it looks much more... civilizationy."

Susie glared at him again. "Well, I still say _this_ way looks better!"

"Alright, tell ya what!" Calvin arrogantly strode up to her. "I propose we settle this with a game of _Rock, Paper, Scissors_. Whoever wins, decides which way we go."

Susie looked the boy up and down, sizing him up. "Best two out of three?" she asked.

"If that makes you feel better about your chances of winning." he replied.

The two of them took their stances, readying for the confrontation. Calvin counted to three and his paper bested Susie's rock.

"That's one for me!" he crowed, victoriously.

They went a second time. Susie threw rock again, this time beating Calvin's scissors.

"And one for _me_." Susie said, with no small amount of smugness.

It was down to the wire. One more move would be the determining factor. Susie was betting that Calvin would go for rock this time – the one sign he hadn't used. So when the countdown was sounded she thrust out her paper; but she looked at Calvin who had both his hands, with three fingers extended each,connected together. The negative space between his fingers formed a sort of zig-zagging pattern.

"What is _that_ supposed to be?" she asked, incredulously.

"Superman. You lose."

"_You can't throw Superman!_" an outraged Susie yelled.

"I just did." Calvin simply stated, turning and walking down his chosen pathway.

"That – that's _cheating!_ I declare foul!"

"Declare it all you want – you can't argue with the facts. Neither paper, scissors or rocks could beat Superman."

Susie was absolutely seething at this point. "_You two-timing, lawless snake in the_ – oh wait, wait a minute! What if the rock was _kryptonite?_ That'd stop Superman!"

Calvin stopped in his tracks. "... That's... a good point. I hadn't really thought of that."

"AH-_HA!_"

He turned to look at her. "But you didn't throw rock, now _did_ you?" With one last infuriating smirk, he continued his way down the road.

Hobbes looked at Susie, giving her a sympathetic look. Then, with a shrug, he followed after the blond haired boy.

Susie begrudgingly went along with them, grumbling all the way. "_Cheating little toad._" she put her fingers together in a crude imitation f what Calvin had done. "_... I don't see how this is supposed to be Superman, anyway._"

* * *

They traveled along for another ten minutes or so when the road turned in a sharp corner. And what they saw when they turned the corner was a welcome sight to them all. "_Oh thank goodness, people!_" Calvin shouted.

Indeed, there was a large group of men were coming up the pathway. They stopped and stared as the three of them appeared along the path.

"Boy, are we glad to see you guys!" Calvin cried, running up to them. "We seem to've gotten lost and we don't know where we are! Could you give us directions?"

None of the men made any response. They only looked at them with expressions varying between disbelief, surprise, suspicion and a few could even be described as contempt. Now that they were up close to them, Susie was a bit disconcerted by their presence. They all wore dark red armor and helmets; and many of them were carrying spears. All of them had the looks of men you didn't want to mess around with.

Calvin watched them a bit, his confidence wavering; it seemed the unease of the situation was getting to him as well. "So uh,... about those directions... anybody?... No?..." Still, no one made a move.

"Er,... do you guys speak English?" he asked. There was no answer.

"Uh,... S, se, ¿se hablas Español?"

No response.

"... Parlez-vous Français?"

No response.

"_... Sprechen sie Deutsch?_"

Finally, the lead man – a tall, harsh featured man with a sharp, black beard and a no-nonsense face – stepped forward. He barked at the three of them a quick succession of words that demanded a response.

Problem was, neither children nor tiger understood a lick of it.

"This could prove problematic." Calvin mused.

"That sounded like Japanese." Susie said.

"What makes you so sure?" Calvin asked.

"There's a Japanese man who works at my dad's office. Sometimes he and his wife ask me to watch their labradoodle."

"Oh great! Can you talk to him, then?"

Susie looked up at the man who glared back down at her like a hawk eying a mouse. "... I could tell him he's a good dog, but I don't think he'll take it very well."

The angry man stepped forward, right in front of Calvin. He shouted more harsh words at the boy, giving him the evil eye all the while.

Feeling the need to say something, Calvin looked up at the man. "Uh... Dōmo?"

"... Dōmo?" the man repeated with a sound of confusion.

"_D__Ō__MO?_" Susie shouted, shrilly. She turned Calvin to face her."_Some angry, scary looking man with armor and weapons and an army behind him shouts in your face, and you THANK him for it?_"

"_Well, excuse me if my Japanese vocabulary is a bit LACKING!_" Calvin snapped back at her.

"_Surly you know _some_ words that'd be more appropriate than that!_"

"_Well, couldn't YOU have learned some more useful words while you were dogsitting?_"

"_Well, I never expected I'd have to explain myself to some irate SHOGUN!_"

Behind them, the man barked some orders to the soldiers behind him, gesturing to the children. Some men in front of the group started moving toward them.

Calvin twirled around, putting his hands up in a placating gesture. "No, no,... uuh... Ko, kon'nichiwa. Uh,... Go, Godzilla... Yyyamaha, d'eh, gen-_ki_ wasabi miso... _sumo._... Ohayou _ryu_... Nin, Nintendo... Ah,... Suburu... ninjitsu dai katana... Doko, Hayao Miyazaki Mikado!"

"Mikado?" the man's eyes rose to his helmet as he gawked at him.

"... _Hai?_"

The man turned around and began addressing the assembled troops.

Calvin leaned over to Susie, his hand covering his mouth conspiratorially. "I think they bought it." he said.

A few short minutes later, the children had their hands bound and were being marched forward in the midst of the soldiers.

"Y'know, maybe we should've taken your way, after all." Calvin said to a very tart looking Susie.

Her only response was to kick him.


	2. And Getting Stranger

_Well, THIS sucks!_ Calvin bitterly thought as he leaned against the wall of his cell.

The soldiers had marched them to some kind of military base where they had promptly been searched and separated. Now Calvin sat alone in a windowless room with no knowledge of what was going on outside, how long the soldiers intended to keep them there, or why they brought them here in the first place.

He had lost track of how long he had been in isolation; the minutes just flowed on by in one monotonous, never ending stream.

Absently, he found himself wondering if Susie was alright. Hobbes, he was fairly certain, was alright; he could hear the tiger's agitated growling – faint as it may be – every now and then. And while his growls were clearly sounds of distress, they sounded more annoyed than anything; which was good, it meant that he hadn't been hurt, at least, not severely. Susie, however, he had no idea where they had taken her, and he hadn't heard a sound out of her.

So Calvin sat, worried and fretting as time kept trudging on.

_As he looked around, he found himself in an empty corridor. The walls were blank and unadorned and he could see or hear no other living thing. _

_In the whole passage, there was but one thing disrupted the endless monotony. Something – a chart or something similar hanging at the end of the tunnel. _

_He rushed over to the object – it was a map of the world, but clearly not Earth. There was one large continent of unfamiliar shape that was colored green. To the west of the big continent was a smaller, island-like continent painted red. To the north and south were two land masses colored blue; and here and there about the map were a few sparse areas painted white._

So this must be what this world looks like. _Calvin thought to himself._

_As Calvin leaned in to get a closer look, the white areas of the map vanished in a flash of red. At the same time, a large rip tore itself into the map. Calvin looked aghast at what had happened. Backing up a pace, he stared transfixed at what transpired next. Red began encroaching on the western shore of the green continent and pressed eastward. Sometimes the green pushed it back a bit, but the red kept moving forward. And the more land the red gobbled up, the more tattered and worn the map became. After about a minute, every spec of land on the map had become red. And the poor old map, decrepit, weary and unable to hold out any longer, finally crumbled and turned to dust. _

_When the map vanished, a cloaked figure was revealed. It stood there, motionless, just staring at him. Calvin looked up at the apparition. He was apprehensive, yet curious. He couldn't make out any features of the figure's face under it's hood; save for it's piercing, scrutinizing eyes that stared at him unnervingly – like the mysterious personage was staring into his soul. _

_Calvin looked at the figure and the figure looked at him, never moving so much as an inch. _

_Calvin was about to make a run for it, when the phantasm stretched it's hand out towards him, open and inviting, as though the figure wanted to shake hands. Calvin was apprehensive, but the look in the figure's eyes, while unnerving, told him he was in no danger. Not knowing what else to do, Calvin reached out and clasped the apparition's hand._

A loud clang and groaning sound jolted Calvin from his sleep. He turned to see the cell door opening with an armor clad soldier on the other side giving him a distasteful look. "On your feet, you!" the man ordered. "The colonel wants a word."

Calvin grimaced, slowly rising to his feet. "Alright, I'm coming. Just hold your horses, I – _Wait a minute, you speak ENGLISH!_"

The soldier looked confused. "I do not know any _ENG-lish_." he stated in annoyance.

Now Calvin was confused. "But... then... what language _are_ you speaking?"

"The common tongue." the soldier answered shrewdly.

Now Calvin's mind was reeling. This whole situation kept getting weirder; suddenly he could understand what their captures were saying, yet they insisted that they weren't speaking English... They must be playing with his mind, yes, that made sense; they were playing some creepy mind game to test him or something! After all, it's not like he could suddenly learn a new language,... right? "Um,... out of curiosity, what language am _I_ speaking?"

"The same as the rest of us." the soldier curtly replied. "And it's about time, too. If you can talk like a civilized person, why didn't you do so earlier, instead of hooting about like some jabbering hog monkey?!"

_HOG monkey?_ Calvin would have to file that away for later.

"Now come with me!" the soldier reiterated. "It is inadvisable to keep the colonel waiting!"

Not wanting to stay in the cell any longer, and figuring that talking to this colonel might be the best way to get some answers, Calvin wordlessly went along with the soldier.

A couple minutes later, the soldier brought Calvin to a room with a single table and chair. The room's only other occupant was a lone man with his back to the door.

As they entered the room, the soldier addressed the figure. "Colonel, I've brought the boy as you requested!"

As he said this, the figure turned to face them. Calvin made an involuntary gasp; standing before him was the same hawk faced man who had them apprehended earlier.

"Thank you, lieutenant." the colonel said, gruffly. The lieutenant released Calvin and positioned himself by the door. Turning to Calvin, the colonel gestured toward the chair, saying "Sit."

Once Calvin was seated, the colonel glared at him with a calculating look. "_What_ is your name?" he asked the boy.

Calvin knew this would probably be a mistake, but he found he couldn't help himself. "My name is Sir Lancelot of Camelot! I am on a quest to find the Holy Grail. My favorite color is blue – "

There was a loud _slam_ as the colonel slapped his palm onto the table. Getting right into Calvin's face with a furious glare, he growled "_I don't give a rat snake's tail what your favorite color is, and I do NOT appreciate you treating this like a joke!_ If you want to come out of this interrogation with all your body parts functioning properly, you had better give me _straight_ answers! Understood?!"

Yep, definitely a mistake.

"Got it." Calvin replied, meekly.

"Now, give me your _real_ name!" said the colonel.

"... Jet Li." Calvin spouted out the first oriental sounding name that came to mind.

"That's more like it." the colonel replied in a satisfied tone. "Where are you from, _Jet Li_?"

Hoo boy, this was decidedly _not_ a favorable situation. What do you do when lying can only get you in trouble, but the truth is absolutely out of the question? "Oh, y'know. We're from... around... Actually, we kinda got lost."

"Lost?"

"Yeah, we were at this party the other night and things got a bit outta hand. A bit too much sa_ke_, if ya know what I mean!"

The colonel's eyes narrowed as Calvin spun his yarn. The displaced youth hoped it didn't mean the colonel was calling his bluff – 'course, with a face like his, that expression could mean anything.

"Just tell me what town or city you came from!" the colonel said, curtly.

"Oh, um... I, uh... forgot."

The colonel raised an eyebrow. "How could you _forget_ where you live?!"

Calvin leaned forward, his fingers interlaced. "It was a _really_ great party."

The colonel growled, agitatedly. He turned his sights upward and his scowl deepened. "What happened to your hair?" he asked.

"Why? What's wrong with my hair? _Does it have split ends? Please tell me it's not a cowlick!_" Calvin put both hands to his head and started frantically running his fingers through each strand.

"No, no your hair is... yellow. Is that some sort of chemical reaction?" the colonel's voice indicated genuine confusion – as though he had never seen blond hair before.

Calvin was perplexed. "Uh,... no, I've pretty much always been blonde."

"Impossible! You must have done something!"

"Well, _I_ don't know of any way to change one's hair color! Do you?"

Calvin took the colonel's growl to mean that he didn't.

"I mean, I suppose I could dip my head in a bucket of paint, but that seems a bit messy – not to mention, uncomfortable."

"That's enough." the colonel rumbled.

"Or I could stick my head in the sunlight and try to bleach it, but that would take an awfully long time and – "

"_I said 'ENOUGH!'_" the colonel swiped his hand through the air in front of Calvin. And as the hand swept by, a trail of flames was left in it's wake. It burned in front of Calvin, dancing sinisterly before vanishing into the air.

Calvin's eyes went wide as saucers on seeing this phenomenon. His jaw went slack and his mouth became a tiny, thin line.

The colonel continued. "I've had enough of your disrespectful attitude! If I hear one more mordacious comment out of you, you will be punished – _severely_."

"_Oookey dokey._" Calvin replied, his voice more high pitched than he would've liked.

The colonel's expression hardened. "What is _that?!_"

"What's what?"

"That sign you're making with your hand. _What is it?!_"

Calvin looked at his hand to see what the older man was referring to. "It's just a thumbs up." he said.

"And what is the purpose of this _'thumbs up'?!_"

"It – it uh, indicates approval, agreement or... general positivity."

The colonel's scowl told Calvin that he wasn't impressed with the explanation. Still, he didn't pursue it further. "No matter.

"Now, if your inebriated mind can recall, _this_ was found in your pocket – what is it?!"

Calvin looked at the object the military man brought out. It was a tiny metal ball – just slightly larger than a ping-pong ball. It was bisected with a thin, black horizontal line right down the middle. Just below the line was a small red light glowing dimly.

"I have no idea." Calvin said with complete honesty.

The colonel's scowl deepened, causing Calvin to feel an immediate panic attack. "No, no! I, I, I know you said no more snark, but I really, _honestly_ have no idea what that thing is!... Fact, I don't even remember it _being_ in my pocket!"

The colonel loomed in closer to him. "You are _certain_ of this?"

"_Absolutely._" Calvin squeaked.

The colonel glared into his eyes, probing for the slightest trace of deception. Calvin sat there, wilting under the colonel's scornful gaze, sweating like a sinner in a church.

Calvin wasn't sure how long he could take the older man's staring – he felt like an ice sculpture before a blowtorch. Just when he was beginning to feel like would break down, the colonel grumbled a rough "Very well." He turned away from Calvin, adding "The lieutenant will escort you back to your cell."

Calvin wordlessly rose and went with the lieutenant, leaving the colonel by himself.

Seeing that the room was completely empty, the colonel thought aloud "Why don't _I_ ever get invited to those parties?!"

* * *

Susie was a nervous wreck. All alone in her meager cell, with no idea as to the well being of her companions, She had nothing to do but lean against the wall and imagine what horrors lay in store for her. She had heard tales that involved soldiers who's _carnal urges_ perpetually grew, and with no outlet to relieve themselves, they would act out on any target they could get. And here she was, a fifteen year old girl with no _real_ combat experience in a military base full of soldiers, each easily twice her size and all of them fully armed.

Sleep brought little respite; her subconscious mind brought up eerie and disturbing images. At one point, she found herself on what looked like a game board of some sort. Beneath her feet was a grid of square tiles painted to resemble a map – or so it seemed. Moving about the board were several round tiles; some were painted red and had what looked like a flame etched into the top, some were green and had block-like edifices on top, and a few others were blue with a shape like a crescent moon and waves carved into them.

As she watched, the tiles made their moves across the board. The red tiles were the most aggressive, striking at the green and blue tiles mercilessly. And though the other tiles fought back, it was ultimately futile.

Susie watched, in horrified fascination, as the red tiles pressed on, decimating the other tiles wherever they went. At one moment, she looked up from the scene and gasped in fright – standing across from her was a cloaked personage, it's face unseen underneath it's hood. The figure stared with rapt attention; not at the tiles below, but at _her! _

The tiles continued their campaign; the red tiles ruthlessly pressing their advantage, while the green and blue tiles defending themselves valiantly, yet for naught. Soon, the green and blue tiles had all been conquered, with only the red tiles remaining. And then the scene and everything in it faded away – completely engulfed in blackness.

Susie looked about in bewilderment, then turned to see the cloaked phantasm directly in front of her. She looked up into the figure's hood, yet couldn't discern anything of a face – only two gleaming eyes that stared at her unblinkingly. The specter moved it's hand toward her and she jumped back in a fright. She looked at the figure with mistrust and fear in her eyes. Slowly, she backed away, wanting to put as much distance between herself and the phantom as she could. The apparition made no move to stop her, it only continued to gaze at her with those glistening, unnerving eyes.

Susie awoke in a cold sweat, shaking. For a time she sat with her back against the wall, her knees held to her chest – too afraid to fall asleep again.

She sat motionless until the sound of the cell door opening reverberated through the emptiness. Looking up, she saw a soldier standing in the door frame. He was speaking, but she still couldn't make heads or tails out of it. The soldier, seeing that he would get no response from her, other than blank stares, made a motion for her to come over. She rose, tentatively, and complied, though still wary of the intimidating figure.

The soldier led her through the compound to a room where another soldier was waiting. They seated her in a chair and began questioning her – at least, she assumed they were questioning her, since she had no idea what they were saying. She tried to communicate this to the interrogators; pointedly shrugging her shoulders, shaking her head and looking at them with confused expressions.

The interrogation seemed to drag on for hours, but eventually the soldiers seemed to agree that they weren't getting anywhere and took Susie back to her cell. And there she remained, with nothing to do but wait.

After a while – she had no clue how long it had been, the cell door opened again and she was made to follow her captors once again.

While she was being led along, wondering what they wanted this time, Susie saw something that lifted her spirits considerably. Another group of soldiers were marching toward them; and following behind them was Calvin with an irate Hobbes prowling beside him.

The two groups joined up and Susie fell into step alongside Calvin. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I think they're letting us go." Calvin replied.

"What? Why?"

Calvin shrugged. "I guess they can't come up with any really compelling reason to keep us."

They were brought out of the compound and the soldiers stood at attention. The displaced travelers waited for a moment; when the soldiers made no other moves, they turned and started walking. Just as they were leaving, one of the soldiers shouted something to them, Calvin then turned and called a reply. When he turned back around, Susie was giving him a strange look. "What?" he asked.

"Since when do you speak Japanese?!"

"... Since this morning, apparently." Calvin replied, nonchalantly, and pressed onward.

Susie made a quick dash to catch up with him. "What do you mean 'since this morning'?! People don't just spontaneously learn new languages!"

"Look, all I know is I dozed off and when I woke up, I could understand what they were saying."

Susie's expression was a mix of inquisitiveness and bewilderment.

"... Makes no sense to me either." Calvin stated, dully. He continued walking for a few paces before suddenly asking. "When you heard me talking to the soldier, what did it sound like?"

Susie thought for a second, then replied. "It sounded just like the way the soldiers talk."

"You couldn't decipher _any_ of it?"

"No, none."

Calvin pondered this as the trio wandered on. "... Strange, it didn't _seem_ like I was speaking a different language. 'Fact, when the the soldiers were speaking, it didn't seem like I was _hearing_ a different language!"

"... Wow that's... this just keeps getting weirder." Susie mused.

"You don't know the half of it!" said Calvin. "The guy who interrogated me – the colonel – _he shoots FIRE out of his hands!_"

The small party came to an abrupt halt. Susie and Hobbes both looked at Calvin with flabbergasted expressions.

"... Calvin,... people don't shoot fire out of their hands – "

"And people don't spontaneously learn new languages over night!" Calvin countered. "Look, I know what I saw, it was right in front of my face! There's absolutely _no_ chance that I mistook what I saw!"

"Alright, settle down." Susie said, in a placating tone. As they continued on their way, she turned back to Calvin. "So, you were interrogated?"

"Yep."

"So was I,... but... as you can imagine, it wasn't very... productive."

"I'll bet." Calvin remarked with a rueful smirk.

"So,... what did they; what did they want to know?"

"Oh, the usual stuff." Calvin made a flippant gesture. "Who we are, where we came from, why my hair's blonde – "

"Seriously?! He asked why your hair's _blonde?!_"

"Yeah I know, weird. Oh – " Calvin fished into his pocket and pulled out the strange object. "He also wanted to know what _this_ is." he showed the device to his companions. Susie gaped at the metal sphere in astonishment while Hobbes gave it a curious sniff.

"Whoa... what is – "

"Let me save you the trouble." Calvin moaned, exasperatedly. "I have no idea _what_ this doohickey is! I don't know what it _does_, _where_ it came from _or_ how it got in my pocket!"

"Oh." Susie breathed. "Um,... could I have a look at it?"

Calvin wordlessly tossed the thing to her. Susie turned the device over, looking at it from every angle. She tried rotating the two halves – though the parts turned, nothing happened. She tapped her finger on it, listening for anything that might give an indication of it's function. She pressed on various parts of the device, searching for any hidden buttons. Not one thing she did yielded any sort of change or reaction. "It uh,... doesn't seem to _do_ anything." she said at length, tossing it back to Calvin.

"Probably the only reason they gave it back." the boy replied as he caught the object. He took one last look at the device, right into it's glowing blue light. "Huh," he mused "Coulda sworn that light was red earlier."

A set of blades suddenly popped out of the top of the device. "_Whoa!_" Calvin tossed the it up with a startled cry. But rather than fall to the ground, the device's blades started spinning at high velocity, causing the object to hover like a miniature helicopter. It floated in front of their faces for a moment, then steadily climbed into the sky. The trio could only gawk after the thing with wide eyes and slack jaws.

When the device got so high that they could no longer see it, their attention was brought back to the ground where tiny blue dot of light had appeared. As they watched, the dot grew into a widening circle that spread over the landscape. It traveled all across the surrounding area so far that they couldn't see it anymore.

Uncertain of what to make of this, the three travelers cast bewildered glances at each other.

After about five minutes it returned, now getting progressively smaller as it retraced it's path. Soon, it became a tiny blue dot once again, just before vanishing.

Calvin, Hobbes and Susie turned their gazes back to the sky to see the tiny device slowly descending. Tentatively, Calvin reached out his hand and the otherworldly machine came to rest on his palm. Having come to roost, the device's blades stopped spinning and folded over, becoming a seamless cover over it's upper half and the blue light turned back to red.

"... How profoundly odd." Calvin stated.

"_What WAS that?!_" Susie shrieked in near hysteria. "Calvin, that thing could be dangerous! We should get rid of it!"

Hobbes huffed, nodding fervently.

Calvin, however, was looking the device over, examining it methodically. "... Or it could be beneficial." he stated. "Thing is, we just don't know anything about it."

Susie gave Calvin one of her looks that said he was out of his mind. "You're not seriously going to _keep_ it?"

"Aw c'mon, don't tell me you're afraid of a little light show!" Calvin challenged as he pocketed the machine again.

"A light show that may have given us radiation poisoning." Susie countered.

"Worry wart." Calvin snorted. "Besides, I get the feeling this little doodad's significant somehow – though I'm not sure in what way." he turned a look back toward his companions; Susie's expression hadn't changed and Hobbes, while still dubious, at least seemed to be mulling it over.

Calvin sighed. "Look, we'll hold onto it for now – see if we can figure out what it does. _IF_ it proves to be dangerous, then we'll dispose of it!"

"Like if it explodes in you pants?" said Susie.

"Yeah, like that." Calvin cast a look toward the sky, gauging the sun's position. "C'mon guys, we're burnin' daylight." he turned and continued walking on.

* * *

They continued walking for an hour or so, before stopping to rest at the crest of a hill.

Susie seated herself on the ground, smiling as a cool breeze wiped away her perspiration. Calvin stretched and laid himself down on the grass while Hobbes sought the shade of a nearby tree.

"Y'know," Susie piped up after a few minutes. "We're gonna have to figure out some sort of shelter."

"Yeah." Calvin agreed, sitting up. "Not to mention food." At the sound of 'food', Calvin felt the nudge of Hobbes' paw on his shoulder. "Not now, Hobbes."

"Well, Hobbes is a predator, couldn't he catch something?" Susie asked.

Calvin blew through his pursed lips, dismissively. "Are you kidding? Hobbes' idea of hunting is looking through the pantry for a can of tuna!"

Hobbes nudged his shoulder again, adding a throaty rumble. "What? You know it is!" Calvin snapped, tartly.

"Alright, then do you know anything about trapping or anything?" asked Susie.

"'Fraid not. How 'bout you? _Cut it out, Hobbes!_"

Susie shrugged. "I have a rudimentary idea of edible plants."

Calvin frowned. "Well... I guess that'll have to do. _Seriously Hobbes, STOP poking me!_"

"Alright. Now what about shelter?"

"Well, it doesn't look like it'll rain." _nudge_. "But then, there's no telling how cold it gets at night." _nudge_. "We could try to find something to hide in." _nudge_. "Like a cave," _nudge_. "or a hollowed out tree." _nudge_

"And if we can't find anything?" Susie asked. "How good are you at building shelters?"

"Never had to, before." _nudge_.

"Do you think you could _try?_"

"I could try." _nudge_. "No guarantees it'll stay up, though." At this point, Hobbes raised his paw up high and brought it down hard right on top of Calvin's head. "_OW! What the – Hobbes, what the HECK'S gotten into you?!_"

Hobbes gave an irate snort and pointed his paw down toward the slope of the hill. The two humans clambered over to edge and looked out to where he was pointing. Down below, a short distance away from them, a small town was spread out in the midst of the landscape.

Calvin blinked as he took in the sight. "Or that. That'll work too."


	3. A Little Kindness

It was a rather small town the group crawled into – tight and close knit. The state of the buildings suggested that the inhabitants were not particularly wealthy, here and there were loose roof tiles, skewed shutters and structures that looked haggard and worn. It was by no means a slum, yet it clearly needed fixing up.

The state of the people they passed by corroborated the notion of humble circumstances; their dress consisted mostly of simple shirts and leggings for the men and plain dresses for the women – with very little in the way of stylization or embellishment.

"Why is there so much red?" Susie wondered aloud. Indeed, just about everyone they passed wore various dark shades of red, accompanied by browns and blacks.

Calvin shrugged. "National color, maybe?" he pressed onward, adding "c'mon, sightseeing's not gonna get us food or shelter."

They went further into the village to what appeared to be a marketplace of some sort. There were many people milling about in this area, buying and selling wares and gossiping with each other. And everyone they passed stopped to stare at the small, incongruous group. Calvin knew he shouldn't feel resentment for this behavior – after all, it's human nature to express astonishment at odd and unfamiliar sights; and they, with their t-shirts, jeans, overalls and sneakers – not to mention an unrestrained tiger strolling beside them – they made for one very odd sight. Still, they were perfectly normal people and he did _not_ appreciate being gawked at like some circus freak.

At length, they came to a wall in the center of the market and sat themselves down.

"So what now?" Susie asked. She looked at Calvin, who was doing something with his back to her.

"First, we add the finishing touches." he replied.

"_'Finishing touches?'_" Susie asked, warily.

"Of course! I mean, if we're gonna pull this off, we'll have to look the part." Calvin turned to face her and Susie was alarmed to see he held a small mound of dirt in his hand. Before she could even make a shriek of protest, Calvin lunged at her and wiped his grime covered hand all over her face, smearing it across every part of her skin he could reach. She struggled, of course, but Calvin was persistent. By the time he was through, Susie's face, hair and arms were coated in a layer of grit and grime.

"CALVIN! What the – _what's the MATTER with you?!_"

Calvin, who was now spreading dirt over his own face, turned to her and coolly replied "If you want these people's sympathies, you're gonna have to look sympathetic."

"And coating ourselves in _dirt_ will make us sympathetic?!" she snarled.

"Right, it completes the whole _'starving waif'_ look. People see us looking all dusty and crusty, they'll get the impression we've been out on the streets for a long time – nothing to eat, no place to sleep, no means of taking care of ourselves; you get the idea." taking a moment to look her up and down, he added. "It'd probably help if we tore our clothes up a bit, too."

"Calvin, if you touch my clothes, you will be singing soprano for a month!" Susie countered.

Calvin didn't say anything, but his expression made it clear that he got the message.

Picking up a moldy discarded rag, he said "Right then, let's get to it!"

"So what, exactly, is the next step in your master plan?" Susie asked.

"Well isn't it obvious? We find ourselves a corner in high traffic area, pull off a shameless beggar shtick and hope these people are the generous sort!"

"That's all?"

"... Yyyeah."

Susie made a _hmm_ noise. "I kind of figured you'd threaten to have Hobbes attack them if they didn't give us food."

Calvin gawked at her with a look of absolute bewilderment. After a moment of staring at her and blinking numbly, he finally said "We'll call that 'Plan B'!" Taking position next to the street, he held out his rag in a placating manner. "Showtime!" he said.

"How're we going to do this?" Susie asked. "I can't even _talk_ to these people!"

"_I'll_ do the talking, you just sit back and look pathetic!" Calvin replied. He turned his attention to the people passing by and held out his rag, calling "Alms for the poor... Alms for the poor..." a passing man chewing on an apple caught his attention. He shoved his rag up close to the man's face and said "Penny for the poor, Gov'na? Help a starving child?"

The man balked at the sight of the debile cloth. Turning his queasy expression to the boy and his companions, he looked them over, noting their weird attire and faces looking up at him with unnerving expectancy. Without saying a word, he quickly shuffled away from them, taking another bite from his fruit.

Calvin watched the retreating figure, his face falling into a glare. "_I hope you choke._" he hissed through his teeth.

Calvin continued appealing to the villagers hopefully merciful nature as time steadily trudged forward. When the shadows on the ground had grown long, he took a moment to take stock of his efforts. All of his hard work of pleading and supplication had yielded an assortment of small coins, two cherries, a scattering of nuts and a large pebble. "_Right..._" he groaned as he viewed the meager inventory. "Hobbes, Plan B!"

"Goodness! What in the world do we have here?"

Calvin whipped his head around to see a small, elderly woman looking them over with wide, curious eyes.

Thinking this might be their one last chance at getting anything substantial, Calvin lifted his rag toward her and, using his most pitiful expression and forlorn tone of voice, pleaded. "Can you spare any change to feed the hungry? Have some mercy, please."

He figured it would be a long shot that this old lady would actually fall for his spiel, but he never would have expected how she _did_ react. She leaned in close and looked closely at each of them one after another. Hobbes and Susie, in turn, glanced quizzically at Calvin who could only shrug dubiously in response.

When the old woman had finished her once over, she turned back to Calvin. "How long have you been out here, like this?" she asked.

Thinking fast, he replied "I dunno... All sort of blends together after awhile."

"What about your parents? Don't you have a home anywhere?"

"Not in this world." Calvin answered – which was true, in a sense.

"Oh." she put a hand to her chest. "That's simply awful. I'm terribly sorry."

"Calvin, what's going on? What's she saying?!" Susie asked urgently.

The woman blinked confusedly after Susie had spoken. "What was that?" she asked. "I've never heard anything like that, before."

This put Calvin in a slight panic, fearing their cover had been blown. "Uh, yeah... that's... she's... unfortunate, really. Dropped on her head when she was little – very tragic!"

"_Gracious._" the woman breathed. She made a _tsk_ noise and shook her head in a slow, solemn manner. "Well, this won't do, not at all. Can you all walk?"

"Um,... _yes._" Calvin cautiously answered.

She turned, saying "Well, come along, then. We've quite a ways to go."

The displaced travelers watched the old woman trod a few paces, they gaped at each other with incredulous expressions for a spell before turning back to the strange lady. Not knowing exactly why, or even if it was the best course of action, they numbly got to their feet and followed after the odd woman.

* * *

"Here we are." the woman said as she led them into her home; it was a small house, even compared with the rest of the village, with close, snug rooms. The interior was dimly lit with the only available light streaming in from outside. "I'll make some tea; would you like that?" the woman continued.

"Umm,... sure, I guess." Calvin replied. On the few occasions Calvin had had tea, he had not particularly cared for it. Still, this woman had been nice enough to take them in and she could still just as easily throw them out – better to be courteous this time.

"Alright, then. There's a washroom up the stairs where you and your friend can get cleaned up."

"Alright!" Calvin exclaimed, heading toward the a fore mentioned stairs.

"Ah, ah, ah!" the boy stopped and turned to see the old woman glaring at him with a chastising expression. "Ladies _first_, young man." she said, gesturing to Susie.

Calvin grumbled, yet still reiterated the elder's words to Susie. The girl's countenance brightened considerably at the thought of washing all the grit off of her and she scurried like a rabbit up the stairs and out of sight.

Once Susie had left, Calvin's attention was drawn to something in the main room. On a little nook in the wall, there stood a strange little figure; obviously a statue of some kind – nothing like that could possibly be natural. It had a head, legs and tail like a cat, but instead of forelegs it had a pair of wings and it's eyes were round and bulbous – much like an owls. Calvin found himself intrigued by this unusual artwork; it was certainly an impressive piece of work, with carefully placed fabrics to give the impression of real fur and feathers, modeled so that it looked as if it were peering off into the distance – if he hadn't known such a creature to be impossible, Calvin might have thought it were a real animal.

He leaned in close to get a better view of the strange statue. As he did so, the figure blinked and turned to glare at him with it's luminous green eyes before flying over him with a shrill scream.

" – _The HECK was that!?_" Calvin shrieked as the... _thing_ flew over to land on the old woman's shoulder.

The woman began stoking the animal's head in a soothing manner. "Now, now Asuka," she said chidingly. "behave yourself for our guests." Turning to Calvin, she added "Sorry, my pet owl-cat isn't used to company."

"... Owl... _cat?_" a flabbergasted Calvin let those words settle on him as he stared blankly at the old woman.

"Now, where were we? Oh yes, tea." the woman turned to a stove like structure with a small bundle of wooden slivers situated on it. She pointed her palm at the kindling, and in a flash, a spark of fire flew from her hand and set the pile ablaze.

"_HOLY_ – " Calvin yelped as jumped back a foot. Beside him, Hobbes made a loud chuff of shock as the fur on his back stood on end and his tail bushed out.

"Problem?" the woman asked, noticing their disturbance.

"Bwa-a-ah,... you just – and then fire... out of your hand... _fire!_" Calvin stammered, gesturing wildly with his hands.

She shrugged, numbly. "It's only firebending." she stated, simply.

Calvin looked at her quizzically. "Fire... _bending_?"

"Well, this _is_ the Fire Nation." she replied, sitting down at the table. She gestured for Calvin to take the seat across from her. Once he was seated, the woman fixed a stern, scrutinizing gaze on him. After a tense moment, she said. "You aren't from around here,... are you?"

Calvin plastered on a false smile in hopes of allaying any suspicions. "_What?_ What're you talking about; 'Course we're from around here!" Beside him, Hobbes nodded fervently in what he hoped was a helpful manner.

There was no change in the woman's expression.

His smile faltering a bit, Calvin quickly amended. "Uh, okay, we're not from around _here_; I mean, we did travel quite a way."

"From another world, perhaps?" the woman said in the same calm tone, looking down her crooked nose at him.

All the color drained from Calvin's face, it looked like the jig was up. "... What would give you that idea?" he asked with unnatural calmness.

"It's quite simple, really." the woman replied, closing her eyes. "The way you reacted when you first saw Asuka suggest that you've never seen an owl-cat before; even though they're quite common animals. Similarly, you were startled to see me fire bend – at your age, you ought to be used to bending. Then, of course, there's you, yourself; you wear unusual clothing, have an unusual hair color, have an unusual animal with you, your friend speaks an unusual language and you're all around... well, unusual."

Hobbes made a soft growl; he didn't appreciate being called _'unusual'_.

"With all of that put together, it seemed the only logical answer." the woman concluded.

If Calvin were to be completely honest, he would admit that he was impressed the old lady had figured them out so easily. But still, she _had_ figured them out, and that could spell very real trouble for them. "Uh, listen Granny,"

"Kei." the woman interrupted. "I prefer you call me Kei."

"Er,... right. So, _Kei_, supposing we _were_ from another world, as you say;... you uh, wouldn't be inclined to _tell_ anyone, _would you?_"

Kei leaned back, her face finally relaxing. "Well, I'm just a tottering old woman." she said with a smile. "Even if I _were_ to make such an accusation, who would believe it?"

* * *

After a couple more minutes, Susie came back down the stairs. Her skin and hair were now squeaky clean which put her in much better spirits.

With her finished, it was now Calvin's turn to wash. He was quicker than Susie, being not quite as hygienically minded as she; still, the grime was starting to become bothersome and he was glad to get it off.

When he came back downstairs, Kei was cheerfully babbling away to Susie sitting across the table from her. Susie looked at the older woman with a sheepish smile on her face while her eyes looked like those of a country bumpkin lost in the big city.

"Oh thank goodness you're here!" Susie said when Calvin trudged over. He could count on one hand the number of times she had said those words to him. "She just keeps yammering on and I have no idea what she's saying!"

"Ah, there you are." Kei said when she noticed Calvin had returned. "I was just telling your friend about how nice it is to have company again. It gets so lonely around here since my boys all grew up."

"Ya don't say." Calvin slid into a chair, sandwiching himself between the two women.

"Oh yes," Kei's smile broadened. "They're all very accomplished men, you know; and all in the military. My youngest, Ran, just made Admiral last year – … or, or was Izo the Admiral?... No, that's right, Eri was Admiral, Ran was Sergeant."

Susie nudged Calvin on the shoulder. "What's she saying?"

"I dunno, not really listening." Calvin replied. Susie whopped him upside the head. "_What the heck was THAT for?!_" he scathed.

"_You're not listening!_" Susie snapped at him.

"_Well, neither are YOU!_"

"I_ can't understand her!_"

"_Oh, like THAT'S an excuse!_"

While this exchange was taking place, Kei watched them with a soft smile spread across her lips. "My, but this _is_ adorable."

"Huh?" Calvin broke out of their spat to gawk at the old woman.

"Oh, don't mind me, dear. It's just..." she bowed her head with closed eyes for a moment. "Watching the two of you brought back such fond memories...

"My husband and I, we... we used to bicker like that a lot when we were your age."

Calvin's jaw dropped, his eyes popped wide open.

"Ah, my dear love..." she hummed serenely, putting a hand to her heart. "Seeing the two of you like that... it's just so precious."

"Oookay,... I'm pretty sure I get what you're insinuating, and I can tell you, you've get a couple wires crossed!"

"_... Wires?_"

"What'd she say, Calvin?" Susie asked.

Calvin gave her a quick glance. "Nothing important." Turning back to the old woman, he said "Well, thanks for the tea and everything, but it's been a real long day and we could all probably benefit from a nice, long sleep!"

* * *

So the old woman led them upstairs, first to a large cupboard where she pulled out two bundles of cloth. She handed one to each of them, explaining that they were clothes her sons used to wear when they were younger and that they could change into them in the morning; she also gave a quick apology to Susie for not having any girl's clothing – which went unnoticed. She then directed them to two snug bedrooms. After they were all situated in their accommodations, she bid them goodnight and departed.

In the morning, Calvin was awakened by a rapid knocking on his door.

"Calvin, are you awake?" the voice of Susie called from the other side.

The boy cracked a bleary eye open and pointed it toward the sound.

"C'mon, Calvin! I think the old lady wants us downstairs, get a move on!"

Calvin groaned as he stumbled out of bed. Beside him, Hobbes gave a mighty yawn as he stretched his feline limbs.

Five minutes later, a tired, disheveled, yet fully clothed Calvin opened the door to see an impatient Susie staring at him.

"Well, nice to know some things never change – even on different worlds." he grumbled.

"... What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Susie retorted.

"Well, it just seems like no matter the circumstance, you can't help but be up with the sun all bright eyed and bushy tailed."

Susie bristled. "So I _like_ to be up early! Is that a crime?!"

Calvin rolled his eyes and made a quiet grunt like noise in response.

"Besides, I'll have you know I didn't exactly have an easy night!"

"Oh, really?" Calvin replied in an uncaring tone.

"Yes, I had this really weird dream last night. I was on this rock in the middle of the forest, surrounded by giant, green chess pieces. They kept telling me to come down so they could initiate me.

"After a while, the rock shook me off and trotted away. Then the sky turned red and the chess pieces all melted; and the sun looked down on the scene and said 'What a shame.' then put on a fez and started sipping on a cocktail. And then – "

"And then the horns kicked in and your shoes began to squeak; yeah, yeah, yeah." Calvin interjected, bitterly.

Susie glared at him. "It's not funny, Calvin. It was really deranged and creepy. Probably one of the worst dreams I've ever had!"

"Last night, I dreamed you were a parrot." said Calvin.

Susie's expression was dumbfounded. "A... _parrot_?" she asked.

"Yeah, and you kept shouting at me to 'synchronize the apostrophe'."

She stood there blinking at him for a moment. "... I... what... _that doesn't make any sense!_"

"I know! You kept on shouting it and I was like _'What does that even mean?!'_.'

she sighed wearily. "I can't believe you dreamed of me as a parrot."

Calvin shrugged. "It could've been worse; I was an iguana."

The three of them made their way downstairs where Kei was standing at the table with plates of food set out for each of them. She also held a rolled up scroll in her hand. "Good morning." she said as they entered the room.

"I will submit that it _is_ morning." Calvin drearily replied, adding a big yawn for emphasis.

Kei pointed at the table with the scroll. "Eat up, children." she said. "We've much to do today!"

When both children and tiger were eating, she sat down herself and unfurled the scroll on the table – it turned out to be a map of the world; a map Calvin could swear looked awfully familiar.

"Now then," the woman started. "If you are going to successfully blend in on this world, you're going to need to know more about it!"

Calvin looked at her to show he was paying attention. Susie looked at her too – merely out of politeness.

Kei continued. "We'll start with the basics: this world is dominated by three nations that each have their own bending arts." she pointed to and island-continent in the west end of the map. "we're _here_, in the Fire Nation. Then there is the Earth Kingdom," she pointed the largest continent on the map. "and the Water Tribe." she motioned to the poles at the top and bottom of the map.

Calvin _tsked_. "_Real_ imaginative names, there." it was then something caught his attention. "Wait. Fire, earth, water..." he ticked each one off on his fingers. "That's like the four elements!"

Kei smiled warmly at him and nodded approvingly.

He continued. "But,... that's only... three... what about wind?"

Kei sighed. "I'm afraid the Air Nomads are extinct."

"Extinct?"

She nodded sadly. "Yes, the Avatar is all that remains of their civilization."

Calvin shared a look with Hobbes before looking back at the old woman. "Ava – _who now?_"

Kei looked at him in surprise. "Don't you have an Avatar in your world?"

"... No."

"... Oh. Well you see, the Avatar is the one person in all the world who can master all four bending arts. They are the mediators between the nations and the bridge connecting the physical world to the spirit world. There is a cycle through the nations – Air, Water, Earth and Fire; when the Avatar dies, he is reincarnated into the next nation in the cycle. Understand?"

Calvin chewed on that for a bit. "I guess... So you say this _Avatar_ is the only airhead left?"

"Oh yes." Kei confirmed. "And he's only a child." she hummed, thoughtfully. "It's hard to believe that the biggest threat to the Fire Nation is a twelve year old boy."

Calvin chuckled. "Yeah, does seem like... wait, whadda ya mean '_threat_'?"

"Why the war, dear." Kei replied. "The war we've been waging against the other nations for the past hundred years. The Avatar is the only one that could hinder our conquest."

Calvin's face expressed a look of shock and panic. Hobbes likewise felt his fur bristle up. Even Susie could the tension in the air increasing.

What Calvin said next (in his native language) summed up the situation quite nicely. "Oh, _caa-RAAAP!_"


End file.
